- William Quarrier
Infobox Person
name = William Quarrier
caption =
birth_date =September 1829 (exact date unknown)
birth_place =Greenock ,Inverclyde ,Scotland
death_date =16 October 1903
known_for =Philanthropy
occupation =Shoe retailer
nationality = BritishWilliam Quarrier (1829 - 16 October 1903) was a shoe retailer and philanthropist from
Glasgow ,Scotland . He was founder of the Orphan Homes of Scotland in Renfrewshire, which later evolved into the social care charityQuarriers .Life
Quarrier was born in
Greenock in September 1829, but moved to Glasgow aged three following the death of his father and spent most of his childhood in poverty. [http://www.quarriers.org.uk/about/history/williamquarrier.php Quarriers, "William Quarrier", retrieved 11th September 2008]At 17 he began work as a shoemaker after training as an apprentice. At this stage, he became a devout Christian. He soon owned a chain of shops and married Isabella Hunter, the daughter of his first employer. Quarrier fathered four children: Isabella, Agnes, Frank and Mary Quarrier.
Charitable work
Quarrier is best known for his charitable work. In 1871 he opened a night refuge for homeless children in Renfrew Street, Glasgow.
Then in 1876, using charitable donations, Quarrier began to build the Orphan Homes of Scotland on a piece of land now in
Inverclyde and between the villages ofKilmacolm andBridge of Weir , falling within thecivil parish of the former. By the 1890s ' [Quarrier's Village] ', as it is now known, was home to 34 cottages, a school, a church and a fire station. The village was home to up to 1,500 children at a time.Death and legacy
William Quarrier died on 16th October 1903. He is buried alongside his wife in the Mount Zion Church cemetery at Quarrier's Village.
His work continues through the social care charity
Quarriers , which is still based at Quarriers Village.Further reading
* "The Quarriers Story" by Anna Magnusson.
External links
* [http://www.quarriers.org.uk Quarriers website]
ee also
*
Quarriers
*Quarrier's Village References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
